Project Description

This livestock sector vulnerability report presents the results of the livestock evaluation components of the Mekong ARCC study. It establishes an initial baseline of the current status, trends, drivers, and tolerances of key livestock production systems in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB) and hotspot provinces, then uses this information to develop hotspot province vulnerability assessments, and ultimately adaptation options for livestock throughout the basin.

Average maximum ambient temperature increases of up to four or five degrees Celsius, projected for parts of the LMB, will reduce livestock productive performance and increase behavioral problems, morbidity, and mortality in the majority of livestock units without investment in cooling systems. Productivity losses and increased mortality rates, particularly among young and immuno-compromised stock will negatively affect farmer incomes and may increase prices of livestock-derived products, or drive increasing demand for imported products.

About Sector Analysis Reports

Sector analysis reports were prepared to describe anticipated climate change impacts on key livelihood sectors of the LMB, including agriculture, capture fisheries and aquaculture, livestock, and non-timber forest products, as well as on protected areas and socio-economics. These reports served as important references and contributed substantively to the analysis and results of the Climate Change Impact and Adaptation Study for the Lower Mekong Basin.

The Mekong Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change (ARCC) project was carried out by ICEM in partnership with DAI and SEA START for U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to generate new data, new approaches and to spur adaptive change in the Mekong River Basin.